Applications that are installed and/or running on mobile devices often rely upon the services of websites and associated servers that are accessible using wireless network communications. Because of this reliance, application performance and quality of user experience (QoE) may be affected by the ways in which the websites and servers provide data to the applications.
In many situations, it may be possible to monitor data communications between an application and a server and to analyze the communicated data in order to identify things that may adversely affect application and/or device QoE. In some cases, for example, an analyst may determine that server-provided responses to certain requests are delayed, causing an application to seem “laggy” to a user. In other cases, a server may return faulty data that causes repeated requests or other problems when received by the mobile device. In yet other cases, examination of a data flow may reveal problems with network communications paths between the mobile device and a server.
In certain situations, a mobile device may communicate with a server using encrypted communications. For example, a communication protocol known as HTTPS (hypertext transfer protocol secure) may be used in order to ensure privacy and to authenticate data sources. When using a secure communication protocol such as HTTPS, it is difficult or impossible for an analyst to decipher communications between a mobile device and a server, effectively eliminating an analytical tool that would otherwise be available for improving the performance of an application.